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Short answer
Climate TRACE (Tracking Real-Time Atmospheric Carbon Emissions) is an independent non-profit coalition providing asset-level greenhouse gas emissions data. By combining satellite remote sensing from over 300 satellites with machine learning calibrated against direct ground-truth measurements, Climate TRACE tracks emissions across electricity, industry, transport, and agriculture without waiting for multi-year self-reported national inventories.
Definition and scope
Climate TRACE is a global environmental data coalition launched in 2020 to provide transparent, near-real-time greenhouse gas monitoring. Co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore alongside non-profit organizations and research institutions, steering members include WattTime, TransitionZero, Carbon Yield, CTrees, Duke University Nicholas Institute, Global Energy Monitor (GEM), Earth Genome, OceanMind, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and Rocky Mountain Institute.
While United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) inventories rely on top-down self-reported registries lagging two to three years, Climate TRACE provides empirical, bottom-up tracking across more than 70,000 physical facilities and diffuse sub-sectors globally.
The observational scope covers major greenhouse gases:
- Carbon dioxide (CO₂): Combustion emissions from power stations, refineries, cement plants, steel mills, flaring, maritime shipping, and aviation.
- Methane (CH₄): Venting and fugitive losses from oil and gas basins, coal mining, municipal landfills, wastewater, and rice cultivation.
- Nitrous oxide (N₂O): Synthetic fertilizer application, livestock management, and chemical manufacturing.
Emissions are reported in raw gas metric tons and carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e) using 100-year and 20-year Global Warming Potentials from IPCC reports, enabling research institutions to perform precise carbon accounting (research) and near-term climate impact evaluation.
How it works or how it is used in practice
Climate TRACE tracks global emissions through an empirical workflow combining spaceborne sensors, facility ground truth, and machine learning:
1. Multi-Sensor Satellite Observation
The coalition ingests telemetry from over 300 public and commercial satellites across complementary wavebands. Optical and thermal sensors on Landsat 8/9 and Sentinel-2 detect cooling tower vapor plumes, industrial land alterations, and boiler thermal radiation. TROPOMI aboard Sentinel-5P measures atmospheric column densities of methane and NO₂, identifying concentrated point-source leaks. VIIRS Nightfire instruments track flare radiance across remote extraction basins, while Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) tracks land-use changes through persistent cloud cover.
2. Ground-Truth Machine Learning Calibration
Because satellites measure radiant energy rather than stack gas mass flow, algorithms correlate observed signatures with verified continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) data from U.S. EPA and European registries. Machine learning models map thermal radiance, plume geometry, and operational hours to verified mass emissions, and are then scaled to unmonitored facilities across regions lacking domestic sensors.
3. Sector-Specific Transport and Land Models
Non-stationary and diffuse sources combine satellite telemetry with activity tracking. For maritime shipping, Automatic Identification System (AIS) positions, velocities, and hull drafts are converted into bunker fuel burn. Aviation models convert ADS-B flight trajectories into propulsion emissions. Road transport integrates fleet composition and traffic density, aligning with analytical standards in vehicle emissions research. Agricultural models combine crop calendars and burned-area algorithms to model biogenic releases.
4. Data Ingestion and Analytical Pipelines
Data teams manage spatial grids using CF conventions and process multi-dimensional arrays using Climate Data Operators before validating against Climate TRACE point sources. These asset-level datasets permit research organizations to verify supply chain boundaries and audit scope 1 / 2 / 3 emissions (research org) across international operations.
Types or related concepts
Comparing Climate TRACE against established national and global emissions registries clarifies differences in data acquisition, update cadence, and analytical utility:
| Inventory Framework | Primary Observation Mode | Spatial Granularity | Reporting Lag | Data Access & Schema | Primary Governance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate TRACE | Satellite remote sensing, CEMS ground truth, and machine learning | Asset-level (individual plants, fields, ships) and national | Near-real-time (2 to 3 months) | Open REST API (/v7/sources), BigQuery, CSV downloads | Non-profit coalition (WattTime, TransitionZero, GEM, Duke) |
| UNFCCC National Inventories (CRF) | Top-down self-reported statistical accounting by national governments | National sector-level aggregates | 2 to 3 years | UNFCCC GHG Data Interface, submitted XML/Excel sheets | United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change |
| EDGAR | Activity data downscaling using international energy balances | Gridded spatial maps (0.1° × 0.1°) and national sectors | 1 to 2 years | NetCDF grid files, downloadable Excel inventory tables | European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) |
| U.S. EPA GHGRP (FLIGHT) | Mandatory facility self-reporting from large emitters | Facility-level for installations emitting ≥ 25,000 tCO₂e/year | 9 to 10 months | Envirofacts REST API, FLIGHT interactive portal, bulk CSV | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Global Energy Monitor (GEM) | Desk research, corporate filings, permit registries, and satellite checks | Asset-level physical energy infrastructure and pipelines | Biannual release cycles | Open Creative Commons tabular downloads, GIS shapefiles | Global Energy Monitor (coalition research partner) |
Where it matters for labs, clinics or supply decisions
Climate TRACE provides valuable analytical infrastructure for laboratory directors, academic sustainability officers, and institutional procurement teams:
- Supply Chain (Scope 3) Verification: Biomedical research laboratories consume high volumes of single-use consumables, chemical reagents, and diagnostic instruments. Procurement teams can map upstream production assets—such as resin plants and chemical synthesizers—verifying vendor environmental claims against empirical satellite data.
- Institutional Power Procurement: Research compute clusters and vivarium facilities require continuous electric power. By tracking power plant emissions across local utility grids, facility managers can evaluate grid carbon intensity when negotiating Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) or evaluating on-site solar.
- Corporate Ownership Transparency: In partnership with Global Energy Monitor, Climate TRACE maps facility emissions to parent corporate entities. University endowments use these ownership hierarchies to perform verified portfolio decarbonization assessments and ESG compliance audits.
- Atmospheric Model Evaluation: Climate researchers use Climate TRACE coordinates and plume metrics to validate chemical transport models (such as GEOS-Chem and WRF-Chem) and optimize local air quality sensor networks.
Common misunderstandings
Several technical misconceptions exist regarding the operational capabilities of Climate TRACE:
- Misunderstanding 1: Satellites directly weigh stack emissions from orbit. Spaceborne sensors detect radiant heat, optical plumes, and column gas densities rather than weighing exiting molecules. Computer vision models trained on ground CEMS measurements infer hourly mass emission rates from these physical indicators.
- Misunderstanding 2: Climate TRACE replaces official UNFCCC treaty inventories. Climate TRACE does not replace legal treaty reporting under the Paris Agreement. Instead, it serves as an independent empirical verification tool helping researchers and policymakers cross-check self-reported national registries.
- Misunderstanding 3: Data access is restricted to national aggregates. Climate TRACE publishes asset-level records covering individual industrial facilities, power stations, and agricultural lands globally, complete with coordinates, ownership attribution, and subsector classifications.
- Misunderstanding 4: Cloud cover leaves facilities unmonitored. While overcast skies obstruct optical imagery, the coalition uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR), thermal infrared sensors, and activity-based proxies to maintain observational continuity.
Frequently asked questions
What is Climate TRACE?
Climate TRACE is an independent non-profit coalition providing open, asset-level greenhouse gas emissions data. It combines satellite earth observation, ground-truth sensor training, and machine learning to track emissions globally.
How does Climate TRACE measure greenhouse gas emissions?
Climate TRACE captures satellite imagery across optical, thermal, and atmospheric spectral bands, combining these observations with ground-truth CEMS data to train machine learning models that estimate emissions at unmonitored facilities.
Who founded and operates Climate TRACE?
Climate TRACE was co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore alongside technology non-profits and research organizations, including WattTime, TransitionZero, Carbon Yield, CTrees, Duke University Nicholas Institute, Global Energy Monitor, Earth Genome, OceanMind, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and Rocky Mountain Institute.
How can researchers access Climate TRACE data?
Researchers can access Climate TRACE data through free bulk CSV downloads on climatetrace.org, a public mirror in Google BigQuery for SQL analysis, and a keyless public REST API at api.climatetrace.org offering endpoints for asset locations, sectoral summaries, and gas volumes.
What greenhouse gases does Climate TRACE track?
Climate TRACE tracks carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O), alongside criteria air pollutants. Emissions are reported in individual gas masses and carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e) using 100-year and 20-year Global Warming Potentials from IPCC reports.
Sources
- Climate TRACE Coalition. (2026). Approach & Technical Architecture. Retrieved November 11, 2026, from https://climatetrace.org/approach
- Climate TRACE Coalition. (2026). Open-Source Methodology Documents Repository. GitHub. Retrieved November 11, 2026, from https://github.com/climatetracecoalition/methodology-documents
- Climate TRACE Coalition. (2026). Emissions Data Downloads & Public API. Retrieved November 11, 2026, from https://climatetrace.org/data
- Gurney, K. R., et al. (2024). Assessment of the Climate Trace global powerplant CO₂ emissions. Environ. Res. Lett., 19, 034015. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad21e6.
- Lancellotti, B. V., Malof, J. M., McCormick, G., et al. (2023). Closing Gaps in Emissions Monitoring with Climate TRACE. arXiv:2309.05834.
